"Error! No table of contents entries found" when you build a table of contents (302865)

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SYMPTOMS

When you try to build a table of contents from custom styles in Microsoft Word 2000 by using the \t switch, you may receive the following error message:

Error! No table of contents entries found.

For example, you may receive this error message when you use the following:

{TOC \h \z \t "Heading 1,1,Heading 3, 3" \n}

RESOLUTION

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office 2000. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

276367 How to obtain the latest Office 2000 service pack

After you install the update, add the following key to your registry to activate the change:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Options\UseAlternateTOCDelimiter (DWORD) 1

To do this procedure:

Quit all Microsoft Windows programs before you edit the Windows registry.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
In Registry Editor, open the following registry key:
MyComputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Options
With the Options key selected, on the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type UseAlternateTOCDelimiter, and then press ENTER.
Select UseAlternateTOCDelimiter, and then on the Edit menu, click Modify at the same time.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
On the Registry menu, click Exit. Registry Editor automatically saves your changes.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Edit the Field to Use the Correct List Separator

Press ALT+F9 to display the field codes. The Table of Contents is represented by a field similar to the following:
{TOC \h \z \t "Heading 1,1,Heading 3, 3" \n}
In this field, the comma is used as the list separator. This is the default setting in the United States, but many other countries use the semicolon as the list separator.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Regional Options. On the Numbers tab, you can see which character is currently used as the list separator.
In the field code, replace the commas with the correct list separator. For the earlier example, the field looks similar the following:
{TOC \h \z \t "Heading 1;1;Heading 3; 3" \n}
Press F9 to update the field.
Press ALT+F9 to switch from the display of field codes to field results.

Method 2: Change the List Separator in Regional Options

Press ALT+F9 to display field codes. The Table of Contents is represented by a field similar to the following:
{TOC \h \z \t "Heading 1,1,Heading 3, 3" \n}
In this field, the comma is used as the list separator. This is the default setting in the United States, but many other countries use the semicolon as the list separator.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Regional Options. On the Numbers tab, you can see which character is currently used as the list separator.
Change the list separator to the character that is used in the field, and then click OK.

MORE INFORMATION

The AlternateTOCDelimiter registry key causes Microsoft Word to interpret the table of contents delimiter based on the language formatting of the surrounding text instead of from Control Panel. Some Word users who share documents in multiple locales may prefer to use this setting. For example, a table of contents that is included in a document with German language format uses a semicolon as a delimiter on an English operating system instead of a comma. All users of this German language document can update the contents of the table of contents regardless of their computer's operating system language as long as they have the UseAlternateTOCDelimiter registry key set.

Note that the Insert Table of Contents functionality still uses the delimiter as it is set in Control Panel when the table of contents is originally created. The creator of the table of contents must manually set the delimiter to the appropriate delimiter for the language of the document before sharing it with other users.